Faith, Trust, and Christmas Magic
by kp83
Summary: When Brittany and Santana's daughter comes home from school upset, but is unwilling to tell them why, it is up to them to find out what is bothering her and try to fix it before it threatens to ruin not only Christmas, but also their happy little family. Part of the 'Santana's Elf' universe. Sequel to 'Christmas in July'. Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

**Faith, Trust, and Christmas Magic**

 **Chapter 1**

It was the last day of school before Christmas break, and Brittany and Santana were waiting for Noelle to come home. Usually Santana was still at work at this time, but she had decided to take a half day and start her vacation a few hours early. Noelle was due home any minute, so while they waited, Brittany tidied up the living room and Santana went to the kitchen to empty the dishwasher. The TV in the living room was on the Christmas carol station, and they were both humming along to it as they worked. The house was merry and calm, and was expected to get even merrier as it was also family movie night, but when they heard the school bus arrive, the front door open, and then slam shut, they knew something was amiss.

"Noelle!" Brittany chided at the same time that Santana said, "What in the world?!"

Santana rushed into the living room to see Brittany staring at a clearly bad tempered Noelle with confusion on her face. "What's wrong?" Brittany asked and she turned off the TV.

"Nothing." Noelle grumbled as she dropped her book bag and shed her coat.

"It doesn't look like 'nothing'." Santana stated the obvious.

"Baby girl, what happened? Why are you upset?" Brittany added.

"I'm fine!" Noelle huffed and threw her coat on the floor as she kicked off her shoes

Brittany and Santana just glanced at each other, not believing Noelle at all. They were not used to her coming home from school in such an agitated state, especially not after her class Christmas party. She had been giddy and practically bounced out of the house when she left that morning holding a gift bag for the Secret Santa exchange. They had expected her to come home just as giddy, if not more so. She looked absolutely disheartened. They were starting to worry that something bad happened. Santana walked up to Noelle and wrapped her arms around her. A few seconds later Brittany did the same thing.

"Honey?" Brittany said softly, urging Noelle to talk to them. "Did something happen at the party? Did your Secret Santa forget to bring your gift?"

That was the first thing that came to Brittany's mind. Noelle wasn't materialistic; they had taught her the joy of giving over receiving, and thankfully, that was a lesson that had stuck with her, but at the same time, she was only a child. She was a few days shy of her tenth birthday, and if she saw everyone around her getting gifts, and she didn't get one, Brittany could understand why that would put her in a bad mood. Nobody liked to be forgotten.

"No, I got a gift. Claire was my Secret Santa; she gave me a Hufflepuff journal."

Claire was Noelle's best friend, and Noelle loved the "Harry Potter" series, so obviously that was not the issue.

"Then did something happen elsewhere? Maybe in the lunchroom or on the bus?" Santana asked.

It wasn't often that Noelle rode the bus. Brittany had a part-time, but successful, craft business that she ran out of their home, which allowed her schedule to be flexible around Noelle's school schedule. She, or Santana on the occasions that she went into work late, took Noelle to school in the mornings and Brittany picked her up every afternoon, but today, as she did every now and then, she asked to ride the bus with her friends.

Noelle sighed. "Moms, it's nothing. I'm just cold and tired."

"That's it?" Santana asked with a raised eyebrow. She was skeptical.

"Yes." Noelle said shortly, looking up at both her moms, hoping that they would drop their inquisition.

"Well, you were up late last night." Brittany said. They had gone to the high school to see their friends' daughter in the drama club's Christmas play, and then after the show, they all went out to dinner. Noelle had gone to bed two hours later than usual.

"Maybe you should take a little nap before dinner and movie night." Santana suggested.

"Okay, I'll go to my room." Noelle said and it floored both of her parents. Noelle hated being told to take a nap. She thought it was too childish for her to do.

Noelle untangled herself from her parents and started to walk toward her room, but Santana stopped her. "Um, young lady, I know you're not going to walk away from this mess you left on the floor."

Noelle rolled her eyes before she turned around, so they couldn't see. She silently picked up her stuff and started towards her room again.

"And don't throw it on the floor in there either." Brittany added. "Put it in its place."

"Okay." Noelle drawled without turning around.

When they heard her door close, thankfully less forcibly than she had closed the front door, Brittany and Santana turned to each other.

"What do you think?" Santana asked.

"Something is up…I mean, it's possible she might just be tired from being up late, but it feels like something more than that."

Santana nodded in agreement. "Maybe we should just see how she is after she lays down. If we try to push her right now, she's just going to shut down. You saw how quickly she wanted to leave."

"Let's give her some time to herself. Maybe she'll be more open to talk after she rests and she gets some food in her. We have all night to try to figure out what is bothering her."

"True." Santana said. "I just hate it when she's upset though."

"I know; me too."

It wasn't often that Noelle was upset or sad. She was usually a happy child, so when something caused her to be less than that, it broke their hearts.

"It'll be okay." Brittany said putting her arm around Santana and kissing her furrowed forehead. "I'm sure she'll talk to us soon, and if we can't cheer her up right away, her birthday and Christmas are just a few days away, and we're watching one of her favorite Christmas movies tonight, so that's guaranteed to help."

Santana nodded and smiled. Brittany was right, Noelle loved movie night, and celebrating her birthday and Christmas. "You're right, I'm sure it will."

"We'll have our happy girl back soon."

-()-()-()-()-

Two hours later, Santana and Brittany were sitting in the living room, wrapping Christmas presents for Ally and Alex when there was a knock on the door.

"That's the food." Santana said standing up. They usually ordered out for movie night, just to make it a little more special. Sometimes it was pizza or burgers, but for tonight, Noelle had chosen Mexican food before she left for school that morning. "I'll pay and plate it; why don't you go and get Noelle."

"Okay." Brittany said.

She had checked on Noelle a little while ago. She had expected to find her asleep, but she was lying in bed with Lord Tubbington only pretending to be asleep. It was obvious that she wanted to be left alone. As much as Brittany wanted to call her out on her charade and ask her again what was bothering her, Brittany decided not to, at least not yet. She mentioned it to Santana, and they decided that they would give her the space she wanted, but if she didn't open up on her own by the time the movie was over, they would ask her directly again. They didn't want to let it go too long. Anything could be upsetting her, and if it was something serious, they didn't want to let it fester.

Brittany knocked on the door and then opened it, walking in to find Noelle sitting up in bed, writing in her new journal. "Oh, you're up. How did you sleep?" Brittany asked playing along with Noelle's earlier ruse.

"Umm…okay." Noelle said with a shrug as she continued to write.

"That's good. Do you feel a little better now?"

"Yep." Noelle said but the short, curt tone indicated otherwise.

Brittany had to bite her tongue because this kind of behavior was not her daughter, but she still wanted to give her just a little more time to open up on her own. "The food is here. Mama ordered chicken fajitas for you, as well as your own chips, queso, and salsa. You don't have to share them with me and Mama." Brittany said with a little chuckle, hoping that Noelle would be excited that she got her own order.

"Cool." Noelle said flatly without looking up from her journal.

"Well, go wash your hands and come eat."

"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Brittany nodded and then looked at Lord Tubbington. "Come on your Lordship, it's dinner time for you too."

At the mention of the word 'dinner', Lord Tubbington stood up, stretched languidly, and then jumped down from the bed. Brittany held the door open for him and when he stepped out of the room, she looked at Noelle again. "See you in a minute." She said before Noelle nodded.

Brittany lingered a moment, hoping that she would say something, but when she didn't, she closed the door. She sighed as she closed her eyes, taking a moment to compose herself. She hated that her baby was upset and wouldn't talk to her. When she went into the kitchen, she found Santana setting a bowl of wet cat food on the floor for Lord Tubbington.

"Here you go, Tubbs." She said and rubbed him on his head and behind his ears. "I'll give you some chicken tomorrow."

Brittany couldn't help but to smile. In the seven years that they had Lord Tubbington, Santana acted as if she was indifferent towards him. She would say that he was Brittany or Noelle's cat, but when she thought nobody was watching, Santana was exceptionally friendly to him, and would spoil him rotten. Brittany had even caught her cuddling with him more than once. She knew Santana loved the cat, even if she liked to pretend that she only tolerated him.

She walked into the kitchen and cleared her throat. Santana stood up and went over to the sink to wash her hands. Neither of them mentioned the display of affection between Santana and Lord Tubbington.

"How is she?" Santana asked.

"The same. She was sitting up and writing in her journal this time. She told me she slept 'okay' and when I asked her if she felt a little better, she said, 'Yep', but I don't think she slept at all, and the tone in the few clipped words that she said didn't sound like she felt any better."

Santana sighed. "I hate this."

Brittany wrapped her arms around Santana from behind and rested her chin on her shoulder. "I know, babe."

"Well, at least she's started to process and express her emotions though writing; hopefully that means she'll talk to us soon."

"Mm-hmm."

"Maybe some food will help too."

"She does like Mexican food." Brittany said, letting go of Santana.

"Um, 'like' doesn't even begin to cover it." Santana chuckled as she dried her hands on a dish towel. She was glad that Noelle had picked Mexican for dinner, because she was hoping that Noelle's love for queso and chips and salsa would act as a kind of antidepressant and perk her up a bit.

"You're right, obsessed is more like it." Brittany giggled.

"For real." Santana said playfully rolling her eyes.

Brittany looked at the counter at the unopened containers. Santana had planned to plate the food, but she had only gotten as far as taking everything out of the bag that it was delivered in before Lord Tubbington had come into the kitchen meowing at her for his food.

"I'll help you with the food." Brittany said.

"Thanks." Santana said with a little smile and leaned in, pecking Brittany's lips.

By the time they had plated the food, Noelle came into the kitchen. She grabbed a can of Coke out of the refrigerator, another treat that she was only allowed on special occasions, such as movie night.

"There she is!" Santana chirped with a bright smile, holding out the plate with the chicken fajitas, rice, and beans. "Your plate is all ready for you."

"Thanks." Noelle said taking it and not returning the smile.

Santana looked at Brittany, as if to say, _"You try."_

"Why don't you have a seat at the table and start eating." Brittany said. "I'll bring in your chips and dips in a second."

Noelle nodded and left the room without saying anything, leaving Brittany and Santana to just look at each other, defeated.

"I think the silence and the dejected look on her face is what is killing me the most." Brittany whispered.

"I know, usually we can't get her to stop talking. She's always a chatterbox and today we get nothing. If she's trying to convince us that nothing is wrong with her, she should at least try to act as she usually does."

Brittany nodded.

"Come on, let's go in with her, and see if the food can work some magic." Santana said.

"I wish I could just magic this." Brittany sighed picking up the paper bag with Noelle's chips and the two small bowls with the salsa and queso.

"Too bad you can't just snap your fingers and fix this like you did that chair last week."

"I guess we're just going to have to do this hard way."

"Convincing a pre-teen to talk when she doesn't want to; yeah, we're going to have an uphill battle."

"Well at least we're in it together."

"Thank goodness." Santana said as she picked up her plate, as well as Brittany's. She leaned over and kissed Brittany's cheek before they went in to the dining room.

"Hey, Honey." Brittany said to Noelle as they came into the room. "Here's your chips. I reheated the queso, so it's hot, be careful." She set the bag of chips and bowls in front of her.

"Thanks, Mom." Noelle drawled when she swallowed the food that was in her mouth. She picked a chip out of the bag and dipped it into the queso.

After she had a second chip dipped in queso, and a third dipped in salsa, Santana asked, "How's the food?" Then she took a bite of her enchilada.

Noelle took a sip of her coke and then said. "It's really good. It's my favorite." This time there was a little smile on her face and the tone in her voice wasn't flat. There was a hint of appreciative inflection.

Brittany and Santana both noticed and they quickly glanced to each other, silently acknowledging the slight improvement.

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it." Santana said. "I think this was a perfect pick for dinner."

"Totally." Brittany said with a smile before she took a bite of her burrito.

"The salsa is perfect." Noelle said before taking another bite.

Santana and Brittany just smiled at her as they both had food in their mouths. When Santana swallowed, she decided to try to steer the conversation away from the food. There was only so much about they could say about it before it got boring and they fell into an awkward silence.

"I talked to Abuela today while I was at work."

"Oh yeah?" Noelle said, visibly perking up. She loved her Abuela.

"She wanted to know if you would like to spend the day with her the day before your birthday. Her neighbor's granddaughter is coming into town for Christmas. You remember Mrs. Harper, right? She lives in the blue house across the street." Santana said and Noelle nodded because she was chewing. "She's about your age and Mrs. Harper wants to take her to the trampoline park, but she thought she would have more fun with someone to play with. Do you want to go?"

"Yes! Duh!" Noelle chirped. She loved any excuse to go to the trampoline park, and she wasn't overly shy, so she made friends easily.

"Great." Santana said with a smile and she was so happy to see Noelle smiling as well. "I think Abuela mentioned pizza and the movie theater too if you girls aren't too tired after jumping."

Noelle's eyes lit up. "Is it December 21st yet?"

Brittany chuckled. "I think you're more excited for that than your birthday."

"Well you haven't told me what we're doing for my birthday yet." Noelle said.

They were going skiing for the day. Santana and Brittany had even bought Noelle a new pair of skis for her birthday as she had outgrown her other pair. They weren't having a party for her though. They learned the hard way that if they didn't have a party for her a few weeks early in the middle of December, before school let out, to not bother having one on her birthday or during Christmas week, because no one would show up, except Maribel and Carlo, and Miguel, Lisa, and the twins if they were in town. After Noelle's sixth birthday, where they had invited her whole kindergarten class, and none of her friends came, they stopped doing them on her actual birthday, and instead did something else, but still just as special.

"Are we doing anything for her birthday?" Santana teased looking at Brittany with a confused expression.

"Maybe, maybe not…she's just going to have to wait until the 22nd to find out." Brittany added winking at Noelle.

Noelle just stuck her tongue out at her parents. She was sure they had something planned; they always did, they just wanted it to be a surprise.

Normally, Santana and Brittany would ask Noelle about her day at school, but since she came home from school upset, and they were trying to give her time to open up on her own, without it looking as if they were purposely prying, they decided to avoid asking that question for the time being.

"So, how excited are you to have the next two and a half weeks off?" Brittany asked.

"Super excited!" Noelle cheered.

She started talking about all the things that she wanted to do during the break, which eventually digressed, somehow, into random conversations about Lord Tubbington, elephants, and her two favorite superheroes: Supergirl and Wonder Woman. Santana and Brittany listened with rapt attention, interjecting every now and then, but mostly they listened to Noelle talk, both thankful that she sounded like her usual self again.

By the time dinner was over, Noelle was in a much better mood. Santana and Brittany were elated, but unfortunately, that changed after Noelle came into Brittany and Santana's room after her shower. Brittany dried and brushed Noelle's hair as Santana folded a load of laundry, piling it out on the bed.

When she was done with her hair, Brittany turned Noelle around and playfully bopped her nose. "Well, now that we're all in our jammies, and it's movie night, I think it's time that we watch 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'!"

"I don't want to watch that anymore." Noelle said and the smile that had been on her face was now gone.

Brittany and Santana just glanced at each other and then back to Noelle.

"Okay…what do you want to watch?" Santana asked.

"I don't know, not that."

"How about 'Home Alone'." Brittany suggested.

"No." Noelle said flatly.

"'Frosty the Snowman'?"

"Nope."

"'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer'?"

Noelle shook her head and she seemed more and more agitated with each suggestion.

"How about you go into the living room and pick out a movie." Brittany said.

Noelle sighed as if that would be a burden, but she nodded and left the room.

"What is that all about?" Santana whispered, turning to Brittany as soon as Noelle was out of the room.

Brittany shrugged. "I have no idea, she loves all those movies."

"Did you see how quickly her demeanor changed too? It was almost as if she didn't want to watch a movie, and that girl lives for movie night."

"Yeah, I know."

"Something is definitely going on with her."

"Clearly." Brittany said.

"Should we just ask her what's up now?"

"Let's give her more time. She started to open up at dinner, so maybe she'll open up a little more after she's enjoyed the movie. If she hasn't mentioned anything by the time the movie is over, we'll ask her."

"Okay." Santana said with a defeated sigh.

They went into the living room, Santana swinging by the kitchen and retrieving a plate of cookies Brittany had baked earlier. She set the plate on the coffee table and then sat on the couch next to Brittany.

"What did you decide on, Mija?" Santana asked as Brittany put her arm around her shoulders.

"'Beauty and the Beast'." Noelle said as she put the disc in the player. She swiped a cookie and flopped down in the oversized beanbag chair that Santana had moved in from her room earlier in the day. She usually sat in that chair on movie night.

"Oh?" Brittany said. "Not a Christmas movie?"

"Nope." Noelle said flatly while petting Lord Tubbington's head as he curled up beside her.

Brittany was a little surprised at her choice, but also not surprised. Given the season and Noelle's love for Christmas, she thought for sure she'd pick a Christmas movie, but at the same time, 'Beauty and the Beast' was Noelle's favorite Disney Movie and it was a movie that she always watched when she was sick. It was one of her comfort movies.

She glanced at Santana to see her frowning. She too had noticed that this was a comfort move.

"Hey, how about you come up here and sit with us?" Santana suggested. "We can cuddle like we used to do when you were little and we watched movies."

"Yeah, that'll be fun." Brittany added. She was so glad Santana suggested that.

"No, I'm good here." Noelle said but she didn't look back at her parents at all, she just stared at the TV as the previews came on.

"Oh, okay." Santana said disappointed. He heart was breaking that Noelle didn't even want to sit with them. She turned to look at Brittany and she looked just as sad. When they made eye contact, Brittany mouthed, _"I know,"_ and then kissed Santana on her temple.

As Noelle watched the movie, Brittany and Santana only watched her. She seemed rigid and stoic at first, but to their great relief, she softened as the movie went on, even singing along to the songs. When it ended, it was almost nine o'clock, which was past her bedtime for a school night, but on weekends and school holidays, they let her stay up later.

Noelle stood up from the beanbag chair and stretched. "Can I have another cookie before bed? And some milk?"

"Sure, in a few minutes." Santana said putting a little space between her and Brittany and patting it with her hand. "But first, come have a seat with us for a few minutes. Mom and I want to ask you something."

Noelle did as she was told and then looked between them as she asked, "Am I in trouble?"

"No. No, not at all Mija." Santana said putting a comforting hand on her knee. "It's just…Mom and I have noticed that there is something bothering you today, and we just wanted to talk about it and see if we can help."

"I'm fine." Noelle said and faked a smile.

"See, that's just it, honey, we're not sure that you are." Brittany said gently tucking a strand of Noelle's hair behind her ear. "You were fine when you left for school, but you were upset when you came home. Then during dinner you seemed to perk up, but all of sudden, right before the movie, you seemed upset again."

"Did something happen at school?" Santana asked softly.

Noelle didn't say anything for a few moments. She just stared at the coffee table.

"Mija, please talk to us." Santana urged. "If something happened we need to know. We can't try to make it better if we don't know what it is."

"You can't make it better." Noelle finally said, but she didn't look up from the table.

"And why do you think that?" Brittany said rubbing her hand up and down her back.

"It's dumb." Noelle said.

"I'm sure it's not." Santana said. "Especially not if it's upsetting you."

Noelle sighed. "Some of the kids in the bus line up heard me talking about Christmas and Santa. They made fun of me for still believing in him. They called me a baby and told me that he wasn't real; that's he's just made up."

"Honey, that's just not true." Brittany said but before she could say anything else, Noelle interrupted her.

"Yes it is!" Noelle yelled standing up, finally losing her temper after holding in her emotions as best as she could.

Her outburst took both Brittany and Santana by surprise. It wasn't often that she did that. Lord Tubbington was also stunned by it, and ran away from the room.

"Noelle, Mija, please just listen to us. What those kids said isn't true." Santana tried to say, but Noelle didn't let her finish.

"Those kids said that _their parents_ told them that Santa wasn't real. Why would they tell them that if it wasn't true. You two have been tricking me my whole life. I thought you said lying is bad!"

Santana and Brittany were both taken back by that accusation.

"Noelle, I want you to listen to me very carefully." Brittany said sliding to the edge of her seat and reaching out her hand for Noelle's, but she crossed her arms instead. "We have not been tricking or lying to you. A lot of people lose their belief, but Santa Claus is real-"

"No he isn't! He isn't real!" Noelle said heatedly, stormed away from them, and sat on the love seat. "He's just something parents make up to trick their kids to be good, but it's all just fake! Santa, Christmas, flying reindeer that can go around the world in one night, elves that make toys…all of it made up!"

"Baby girl, let me-" Brittany started to say, but Noelle cut her off again.

"No, Mom, I don't want to talk about it anymore. I don't even want to think about Christmas! I just wish it was over!" She yelled with tears in her eyes and then looked away from them.

For the next few seconds, it was quiet. Santana and Brittany looked at each other and both of them were at a loss. Neither of them expected this to be what was upsetting her. They knew one day that the time would come that someone would tell Noelle that Santa wasn't real, and they would have to try to convince her otherwise, but they never predicted this reaction. She was deeply hurt and emotional over it.

"Okay..." Santana finally said. "Everyone is worked up right now, we're tired and emotional, so I think that we should take a break, and tomorrow when we're all rested and calmer, we can talk about this."

Brittany almost said something, but then she bit her tongue. She didn't want to say what she wanted to say in front of Noelle. They tried very hard not to contradict each other in front of her.

"Alright, Noelle you heard Mama; please go brush your teeth and then go to bed. We'll come in a few minutes to tuck you in."

Noelle didn't say anything; she just wiped the tears out of her eyes and stood up, leaving the room.

Brittany and Santana watched her leave, and when the bathroom door closed and they heard the water start running, they turned to each other.

"Santana, I don't think we should let this go right now. This is so much worse than I thought it was. We have to fix this. The Christmas stuff aside, our daughter thinks we have been lying to her in a vindictive scheme. I mean, how did we even get here?!" Brittany said almost panicked.

"Britt, I know what you're thinking, and I agree, but you saw her. She's upset, hurt, and angry because she loves Christmas and she was just told that it was all a sham. That alone would upset any kid, but then thinking that your parents created that sham just pushed her over the edge. She's in no place to listen rationally. She needs to calm down before we have this conversation, because nothing we say to her about it right now is going to change her mind. All we're going to do is push her further away. Trust me; I was the same way as a child. I needed time to process and expel some of my anger before I could be reasoned with."

Brittany sighed, because she knew Santana was right. "Alright…I don't like this, but you're probably right."

"I don't like it either, but short of showing her some magic or taking her to the North Pole, which I honestly don't think is the best idea at this particular moment, we aren't going to convince her. Once she has calmed down a bit, we can address why she thinks we would trick her, and then we can figure out a way to address the Christmas stuff."

Brittany nodded. "Okay."

"Okay." Santana said and then wrapped her arms around Brittany, resting their foreheads together. "It'll be okay. We'll get through this and Noelle will be happy again." Santana said, for her sake, as well as Brittany's.

Brittany sighed and then nodded.

They stayed cuddled together, trying to comfort each other until they heard the bathroom door open and then Noelle's bedroom door close. They pulled apart from each other and went to her room, knocking on the door before opening it. Noelle was already in bed with Lord Tubbington curled beside her.

"Hey Honey." Brittany said softly and then kissed Noelle on her forehead. She had so much she wanted to say about their current dilemma, but didn't push it, so she took Santana's advice. She would wait until morning to bring it up again; so she just said, "Sleep well. Love you."

Noelle didn't say anything, she just swallowed hard. Tears were forming in her eyes again.

Santana adjusted the blanket around Noelle and kissed her on her forehead as well. "Love you too, Mija.

Again, Noelle didn't say anything. She was too angry to talk.

Brittany took Santana by the hand and they walked out of her room, closing the door. They stood outside the room, silently in the darkened hallway, listening to see if they could hear anything, and after a few moments, they heard Noelle whisper, _"Love you too."_

Hearing that was such a relief to them. Even though their daughter was mad, she still loved them. They tiptoed away from her room and into their room as it was the quickest escape.

"Let's go to bed." Brittany said. It was still early for them, but neither of them were in a mindset to do anything else that night. They were emotionally exhausted.

"Yeah. Can you just magic everything off? I don't have the energy to go back in there."

"Sure." Brittany said and snapped her fingers, turning off the TV and all the lights in the rest of the house.

They quickly went thought their nighttime routines before crawling into bed. Santana curled into Brittany, resting her head on her chest. They just laid in silence, but after a few minutes, Brittany gasped.

"What?" Santana squeaked, startled from the sudden movement.

"I forgot to move Snowflake." Brittany said.

Snowflake was the toy elf that Brittany had made years ago after she moved from the North Pole to be with Santana. Brittany, and especially Santana, didn't want a real scout elf in their house, because it felt as if it was too much of an invasion of their privacy since a replacement would have been someone Brittany knew, so Brittany made a toy elf in the toyshop. It was made to look exactly as Brittany did as a scout elf, but they 'renamed' the elf because everyone thought it was weird that Santana's elf had the same name as her new girlfriend. For the past twelve years, Brittany had still been acting as a scout elf and reporting the children's behavior to Santa.

"Do you really think that's necessary?" Santana asked.

"Yes, especially after tonight. She doesn't believe in Santa and Christmas anymore, so maybe seeing that she's moved will help her regain some of that belief until we can explain everything properly."

Santana had to admit that that made some sense to her, and at this point, she was willing to try anything. She rolled off Brittany and laid back on her pillow. "Okay...come back to me quickly." She knew that Brittany liked to create fun and sometimes elaborate scenes of Snowflake doing things for Noelle to find, but tonight, she didn't want her to be away from her for too long.

"I'll just move her by magic tonight." Brittany said and snapped her fingers. She wasn't in the mood to do a big scene manually.

Santana sighed in relief and curled back in to Brittany, kissing her lips softly before resting her head on her chest again. After whispers of _"I love you,"_ and _"It'll be okay,"_ to help make them feel just a little bit better, they fell asleep in each other's arms, hoping for a better tomorrow.

-()-()-()-()-

 **A/N** : Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this next installment in the 'Santana's Elf' universe. My beta asked for another Elf fic for Christmas, so I wrote it for her. You all can thank her for this story, because I don't know that I would have written a Christmas fic this year, if it wasn't for her asking for one.

I originally wanted this story to be a one-shot that was five or six thousand words, max, but since I seem to be incapable of writing small, this story looks like it's going to be three chapters long. Chapter 2 is written, but not edited yet. I'm thinking I'm going to post it on Christmas Day, but I'm not 100% sure of when I will post it yet, so keep an eye out for the update.

I'm still writing the third chapter, but I am literally giving this fic every shred of my free time to try to have it completed for you all by New Year's. Fingers crossed that I succeed. I know it's a few days before Christmas, and for those of you that celebrate, I know you have a lot going on, I'm right there with you, but if you have a few moments, _**please**_ take a moment to send me your thoughts. This fandom is smaller than it used to be, and if you're still reading, I'd love to know what you think of this story.

To my beta, **naynay1963** , thank you for beta-ing so quickly. I hope you enjoy your Elfie Christmas gift ;-)

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own 'Glee' or any copyrighted material or products that are mentioned in this story.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Around four o'clock in the morning, Santana got out of bed to get a drink from the kitchen. Bleary-eyed, she stumbled through the dark hallway into the living room, flipping on a light so she could see a little bit better. She went into the kitchen, pouring a glass of cold water. She drank it in four continuous gulps and then refilled the glass to take into the bedroom.

As she was walking through the living room, she glanced at the mantle on the fireplace and noticed that Snowflake had been moved there; but it only took her a second to realize that something was not right. She moved closer to get a better look.

" _What the hell, Britt?"_ She whispered and shook her head as she looked at the scene.

She headed into the hallway, first stopping to poke her head into Noelle's room to check on her, before she went into her and Brittany's room. She set the glass of water on her nightstand, turned on her lamp, and sat on the side of the bed, gently shaking Brittany to wake her.

"San?" Brittany mumbled, as she looked at her, unsure of why she was waking her. "Is Noelle okay?"

"Yes, she's fine." Santana said. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Huh? What?" Brittany said, unsure of why she was randomly asking her that in the middle of the night.

"Are you feeling okay? Do you feel sick?"

Brittany sat up and shook her head. "No, I feel fine. Why?"

"Because I think your A.S. is back, only it's worse than it was the last time."

Brittany had not had A.S., or Alfsson Syndrome, in over eight years, when she got a cold in the middle of July and developed a rare illness that caused her magic to malfunction and produce Christmas decorations and snow for several days until it subsided.

Brittany scrunched her eyebrows together and then shook her head. "I'm not sick. What are you talking about?"

"When you moved Snowflake, what did you do with her?"

"I moved her to the mantle and put a candy cane in her hands. I just did something simple because I wasn't feeling up to anything else."

Santana shook her head. "She's on the mantle, but instead of a candy cane in her hands, she's hanging off an almost empty handle of liquor. There's also sharpie markers sitting beside her and _all_ the pictures and mirror on the mantle have been drawn on, some of it is…well, inappropriate for kids. Thank god I found it before Noelle woke up and saw-"

"Are you serious?" Brittany said interrupting. "I didn't do that!"

"Maybe the stress of the night stressed your magic as well and caused it to act out." Santana said trying to rationalize what she had seen because she didn't believe that Brittany did that on purpose either.

Brittany shook her head. "That's not- No, my self-conscience would _never_ have done that for Noelle to find. I need to see this." She said, flipping the blankets back and getting out of bed. She stormed out of the room, with Santana following closely behind.

When they got in the living room, Brittany stopped in her tracks, staring at the scene in front of her, her mouth gaped open.

"See…" Santana said.

Brittany looked at Snowflake, examining her, and then she growled in annoyance. She grabbed Santana by the hand and pulled her back, out of the way, before snapping her fingers and causing the elf to materialize from a toy into a life-size person.

Santana yelped in surprise, her eyes wide as she saw a blond woman standing in front of her. "What the fuck?! She's real?"

"Vivian." Brittany said irritated.

"Hey Girl, Hey!" Vivian called out loudly and they both could smell the Fireball Whiskey on her breathe. "Long time no see!"

Santana could not believe her eyes. "Brittany, I thought she was just a toy, she's been a real person this whole time?" She immediately became angry. She had specifically said that she did not want someone in their house watching them. It made her so uncomfortable that her skin was practically crawling with the idea of the things the elf had seen over the years. Private, intimate things that no one should have seen.

"Snowflake _is_ a toy, but this _isn't_ Snowflake." Brittany said staring directly at Vivian. "This is Vivian and she disguised herself to make it look as if she was Snowflake."

"What the actual fuck!" Santana said balling her fists. She was livid that someone broke into their house and had been spying on them. She was about to tear into Vivian, but Brittany spoke first.

"What are you doing in our house, Viv?" Brittany demanded.

"And how long have you been here?" Santana added.

"I've only been here a few hours." Vivian said holding her hands up. "I'm trying to help?"

"Help? With what?" Santana scoffed.

"Your daughter."

"Why?" Brittany asked.

"Because she doesn't believe in Santa anymore."

"And how would you know that?" Santana asked.

Brittany sighed. "Because when a child loses their belief in Santa, a report is sent to him."

"Apparently he is very upset about this one." Vivian said flippantly.

"And how would you know that?" Brittany said, hurt to hear that Santa was upset by what was happening with Noelle, but also annoyed by how Vivian said it.

"I overheard Santa and Joy talking about it in his office when Marley brought in the report."

"And what were you doing in his office? In trouble again?"

"Hey, I work up there now." Vivian said and Brittany crossed her arms, giving her an unconvinced look. After a few moments of them staring at each other, Vivian rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Okay yes, I was up there because I was in trouble again."

"You're always in trouble…so tell me again why you are here trying to 'help' my daughter." Brittany said.

"Alright, alright. I'm on the verge of being sent to work in the coal mine, and I really don't want to do that, so I thought if I could be Noelle's elf, I could help her believe again, and then Santa will be happy with me and I'll be off the hook."

Brittany shook her head in disgust. Vivian was there to help herself, not Noelle. She was just going to use them to try to help herself. She was so mad; she was on the verge of misusing her magic against her. She tightened her fist and took a deep breath to try to calm herself.

"Are you out of your fucking mind? You thought you could sneak in here and we wouldn't notice?" Santana said incredulously. "What made you think that drawing on our pictures and making rude scenes on the mirror would be appropriate or helpful in making her believe in Santa again?"

"It was supposed to be funny." Vivian said with a chuckle, but Brittany and Santana were not smiling. "And I may have had a drink or two."

"A drink or two? That bottle is almost empty!" Santana said exasperated, pointing to the handle. She wasn't against drinking, but it was obvious that Vivian had had too much and was not thinking clearly.

"I didn't drink all of that tonight; I only had like ten shots." Vivian clarified as if that was any better. "It's just so good! I love cinnamon and I have a high tolerance for alcohol." She said proudly.

"Get out of our house!" Santana practically yelled, pointing to the door. She had had enough. She was seconds away from going Lima Heights on the woman. "I want you out right now and don't you ever come back and try to pull this shit again!"

"Hey, I was trying to help you!" Vivian said feeling very put out for her effort.

"No, you only want to help yourself, not Noelle." Brittany said taking a step closer to her. "But you don't have to worry. Noelle will be fine. We're going to have a talk with her and her belief in Santa will be restored soon."

"Aww, come on, Brittany, we go way back. Can't you help me out too? I need this. I don't want to work in the coal mine." Vivian pleaded.

"You're right, we've known each other a long time, but my daughter is not your bargaining chip. She's a little girl whose heart is broken because she was told Santa isn't real. It's up to Santana and me to try to fix that. Not you. And as for you being sent to the coal mine…well you should have thought about that before you did whatever you did to get in trouble, _again_."

Santana was about to reiterate that she wanted Vivian out of the house, but then the sound of a door opening from the hallway was heard. Noelle was coming out of her room. Brittany and Santana nervously glanced at each other. Before Brittany could snap her fingers and force Vivian to turn back into a toy, Noelle came into the room rubbing her eyes. Brittany quickly turned her back towards Noelle and pointed a menacing finger in Vivian's face, "Keep your mouth shut, and don't move." She hissed quietly before turning back to look at Noelle.

"What's going on? I heard someone talking loudly." Noelle mumbled sleepily. "Who's that?" She asked looking at Vivian and she was confused as to why she was dress like a Christmas elf.

Santana immediately moved towards her to keep her from noticing the mantle place. "It's just one of Mom's friends. She needs help with something."

"Oh?" Noelle said intrigued and Vivian waved at Noelle with a bright smile, but she heeded Brittany's warning and didn't dare say anything to her.

"Yeah, but it's just boring grownup stuff." Brittany said forcing a smile.

Santana put a protective arm around her. "We're sorry for waking you. Let's get you back in bed."

"But, I want to-" Noelle started to say, but Santana cut her off.

"Noelle, please, do as I say and go back to bed. When we're done with Mom's friend, we'll come in your room and tuck you back in, okay?" Santana said.

Noelle bit her lip, suddenly becoming unsure of the whole situation. "Mama? Mom?" She squeaked and the uncertainty and concern were evident in her voice.

Santana kneeled down on one knee and put her hands on Noelle's shoulders. "Mija, look at me." When Noelle gave her, her full attention, Santana held out one of her pinkies and waited for Noelle to hook her pinky with hers. "I _promise you_ that everything is fine, but I need you to listen to me and go back to your room. Mom and I are just dealing with a bit of a situation, but it is nothing for you to worry about. We can talk about it when she leaves, okay?"

Noelle stared at Santana for a few moments and then looked to Brittany standing next to the unknown woman and she nodded at her as well to tell her that everything was okay.

When Noelle looked back at Santana, she nodded. "Okay, Mama."

"Thanks, Mija. Love you." Santana said with a smile, standing up, and walked her back to her room, closing the door behind her. Santana stalked back into the living room and pointed at the door.

"Out. Now." She hissed, trying to be quiet so Noelle wouldn't hear.

"But-" Vivian tried to say, but Santana cut her off.

"No, I don't want to hear it." Santana said definitively and then turned to Brittany. "I want her gone. _Now_."

Brittany nodded and took Vivian by the arm. "I'll take her back to the North Pole myself; be back in a few minutes." She said and snapped her fingers, instantly dressing herself in winter gear. Then she snapped her fingers again and they both disappeared.

Santana sighed in relief; glad to be rid of Vivian. She grabbed the handle of Fireball and took it into the kitchen, throwing what was left of it in the trash. When she went back into the living room, she looked at the mantel. She didn't know if Brittany's magic could remove permanent marker, but to be on the safe side, she decided to take down the pictures and the mirror so Noelle wouldn't see them. If Brittany couldn't magic the marker away, the mirror was ruined and needed to be replaced. Thankfully, the pictures themselves were okay, the marker was just on the glass of the frame. That could be replaced easily.

In the time that it took Santana to take down the mirror and picture frames, put them in the closet in their bedroom, and find and fish Snowflake out of the depths of the tree and put her back on the mantle with a candy cane in her hand, Brittany had returned.

"Britt, what was that all about? Who was that woman in our house?" Santana asked.

Brittany sighed and snapped her fingers, removing her winter gear, so she was only in her pajamas again. "Vivian and I were friends when we were kids. She was my best friend at one point, but as we got older and she got more mischievous, our friendship faded. She can be an incredibly nice person, but she can also be shortsighted and immature. She has an affinity for practical jokes that she always intends to be harmless, but they have a habit of snowballing out of control. Santa keeps giving her chances, but she can't seem to stay out of trouble for long. Unfortunately, some elves just have a naughty streak. I hate to say it, but maybe a few days mining coal is just want she needs to open her eyes and turn around her life."

"Mm-hmm…and she's not coming back, right?" Santana asked. That's all she really wanted to know. She never wanted to see Vivian in their house, uninvited, again.

"Yes, she's gone. I briefly told Santa what had happened, and he said that he would make sure that she never came back, unless we want her to. He wanted to talk more, but I told him I had to get back home and that I would call him later."

Santana nodded. "We need to talk to Noelle. I think she's okay, but she knew something wasn't right earlier."

"Yeah, we do. Bur if she's fallen asleep, let's let her sleep and we'll talk to her when she wakes up." Brittany said taking Santana's hand and going to Noelle's room.

They opened the door, and from the light coming from the hallway, they could see that she was still awake. They went in the room, Santana closing the door behind them and Brittany turning on the lamp on the nightstand.

"Hey, honey." Britany cooed at the same time that Santana said, "Hi, Mija."

"Hey." Noelle whispered and sat up.

Santana and Brittany sat on the bed, on either side of her.

"Are you okay?" Santana asked.

Noelle nodded. "Is your friend gone?"

"Yes, she is. You don't have to worry though; she never would have hurt us." Brittany said.

"But you were upset, I could see it." Noelle said.

"We weren't upset because we thought she was going to hurt us. We were upset because she was here so early." Santana said. "You know how much I need my sleep. I'm a bear before I have my coffee." She said making a little joke, hoping to ease Noelle's concerns.

"Why was she here?"

"She needed some help from Mom, but we just couldn't give her the help that she needed, so she left." Santana said giving the abridged and least complicated answer.

Noelle nodded, accepting that answer and then asked another question, "Why was she dressed funny? She kinda looked like Snowflake."

Santana looked to Brittany, silently telling her to take this question. She wasn't sure how much Brittany wanted to tell Noelle, so she wanted her to dictate the direction of this conversation.

Brittany hooked her pinky with Noelle's and then rested her free hand on top of their linked hands. "Noelle, we need to talk to you about something. It's something that we were going to tell you when you were older, but after everything that happened today, I think you need to hear it now. I want you to understand that everything we say to you is going to be the truth and we are not trying to trick you. I promise."

"I promise too." Santana said and hooked her pinky with Noelle's on her free hand.

"Okay." Noelle said nodding her head. To Noelle, a pinky promise was the ultimate promise and it could not be broken.

Brittany glanced at Santana and saw her give a slight nod in support.

"You know how you were mad at us earlier because those kids at school told you that Santa Claus wasn't real and you thought we had tricked and lied to you?" Brittany asked.

"Yes."

"Can you tell us why you thought we would want to trick you?"

Noelle just bit her lip. Almost as if, she was embarrassed or unsure of what to say.

"Mija, it's okay. You can tell us anything." Santana said encouragingly.

Noelle sighed. "I don't know why. I didn't want to believe those kids when they said Santa wasn't real, but when they said that their parents had told them that he wasn't real and that he was something that parents made up, I couldn't get it out of my head. The whole way home, I thought about you and Mom, and how you were always talking about him as if he was real, and then the more I thought about it, the more impossible it seemed. I couldn't figure out why you would tell me he was real unless you were just telling me that to trick me into being good."

"Noelle, we love you so much, and there may be times that we don't tell you things right away, but we always have a good reason, and we would never try to trick you into doing something." Santana said. _"Never."_

"Can you believe that?" Brittany asked.

"Yes... but why would you tell me Santa was real if he isn't."

Santana just looked at Brittany. She wanted her to tell her.

"Honey, a lot of people lose their belief in Santa, for various reasons, but despite that, Santa _is real_. He's as real as you and me, and Vivian, the woman that was here tonight, is one of his elves, that's why she was dressed that way…and the reason I know all this is because _I_ used to be one of Santa's elves. Vivian and I were friends when we were little girls in the North Pole."

For a few moments, Noelle just looked at Brittany as if she had two heads.

"I know this sounds crazy. I thought it was crazy too when I first heard it, but it's 100% true." Santana confirmed.

"You're an elf?" Noelle finally said with her eyebrows scrunched, still not believing what she just heard.

"I used to be." Brittany said. "I was a scout elf and I was lucky enough to be assigned to your mama. I broke the rules and showed myself to her because I wanted to meet her. We spent two weeks together before I had to go back to the North Pole, and I was devastated to leave because I had fallen completely in love with her. Thankfully, she loved me too. I wanted to spend my life with her, but I couldn't do that if I was an elf, so I asked Santa to turn me human."

Noelle looked between her parents, her mind forming so many questions. She didn't know where to start. She was still skeptical, even though Brittany and Santana had pinky promised, so she said, "Prove it."

"How?" Brittany asked.

"I don't know…do something elf-ie." Noelle said. She had no clue what that meant, but it sounded like the best thing to ask.

Brittany snapped her fingers, causing a candy cane to appear in her hands.

Noelle's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow." She whispered. "You have magic!" She yelped. "You're like Hermione Grainger!"

Santana and Brittany both chuckled. They were not surprised that she made a 'Harry Potter' reference. She loved 'Harry Potter' and Hermione was her favorite character.

"Well, Hermione is a witch; I'm more like Dobby, but with a more human-like appearance and less indentured servitude." Brittany said with a smile. She was so happy that Noelle was starting to believe them.

"Can you do it again?" Noelle asked. She needed to see the magic again to make sure it really happened and it wasn't her mind and eyes playing tricks on her.

Brittany nodded and snapped her fingers again, this time summoning one of the unicorn figures that had been sitting on Noelle's dresser. Noelle took it out of her hands, examined it, and then looked to the dresser to see that the unicorn was no longer there.

"You're an elf!" She yelled while bouncing up and down excitedly. She believed her 100% now.

"I _was_ an elf." Brittany emphasized. "Like I said, I'm human now, but I was lucky enough to retain my Christmas magic."

"How?"

"I don't know for sure. Santa thinks that it was because I had such a great love and appreciation for Christmas that my magic stayed with me, but that was just an educated guess. Regardless of the reason, I'm glad that I did."

"Why did you have to become human to be with Mama? Couldn't you stay an elf and be with her?"

"I could, but elves and humans have different life spans. When I met Mama, we were relatively the same age, but that would eventually change. Your mama would age faster than I would. She would grow old and die while I was still young, and I didn't want that. Another concern about me staying an elf was that our age difference would be noticeable to those who knew us. It would draw attention to us, and some people might wonder what was different about me, so to keep the North Pole secure, we would have had to keep our relationship a secret. Therefore, to be able to be with her, and live openly, I had to be human."

"I was against her becoming human at first. I loved her every much and I didn't want her to change because of me, but in the end, it was her life. It was her choice, and if she wanted to do it, I couldn't stop her." Santana said with a smile. "Though, now, even though I miss her pointy ears, I am immensely grateful that she did. I can't imagine my life without your mom anymore."

"I can't imagine my life without you either." Brittany cooed and leaned in, pecking Santana softly on the lips. "I'm glad I'm human, and yes, I miss my pointy ears too."

"They were super cute." Santana said with a soft smile.

Noelle's eyes went to Brittany's ears to see that the tops were in fact rounded and not pointy. "How long do elves live?" Noelle asked.

"About three hundred years."

Again, Noelle's eyes widened. "How old are you?!"

"My human age is forty, the same as Mama's, but I'm one hundred and ten years old."

"Whoa!"

Santana chuckled. "I like to tease her and tell her she's a grandma."

"How old is Nana and Papa?"

"They're in their early 180's." Brittany answered.

"Wow, that's old."

"Not in elf years. They're only middle aged."

"And they live in the real North Pole, not Alaska?"

"Yep. We just say that they live in North Pole, Alaska because it made it easier when talking to other people."

"Why?"

"Well, I had to be from somewhere when people asked, so that seemed like the perfect place." Brittany said shrugging her shoulders.

"And you and Mama, and Nana and Papa know Santa Claus?"

"Mm-hmm. So do you, you just didn't know it."

"Huh?"

"Uncle Kris and Auntie Joy are Santa and Mrs. Claus."

"No way!" Noelle chirped. She loved Uncle Kris and Auntie Joy.

"Yes-way." Santana laughed. "You didn't think that he looked like Santa with his round belly and white beard?

"Well, yeah, but I didn't think he was the real Santa…Hey, Have I ever been to the North Pole?" Noelle asked.

"Yes, a few times." Santana said. "In fact, that is where we were when we met you for the first time."

"Really?" Noelle said, perking up with interest.

They had not talked about the details of her adoption. When Noelle was in kindergarten, she asked why she had two mommies, and not a mommy and a daddy like her friends at school. They briefly explained about the different kinds of families and told her that she was adopted, but at the time, she didn't care to ask any questions about it. She just cared that she had two mommies that loved her. That was enough for her and she had not asked about it since then.

"It was Christmas day, and you were only three days old. You were the cutest little baby we had ever seen." Santana said.

"Why was I in the North Pole? Was I an elf too and Santa turned me human?!" She asked, suddenly every excited. "Do I have magic? Am I going to get a Christmas elf version of a Hogwarts letter soon?"

Brittany and Santana chuckled. "No, baby girl." Brittany said. "You've been human since birth. Uncle Kris, Santa, found you on Christmas Eve when he was going his Christmas run."

"I was found?"

"Mm-hmm." Santana nodded. "You were found in the manger of a nativity scene at a church in Anchorage, Alaska, so he brought you back to the North Pole. We were up there visiting with Nana and Papa, and he knew we wanted to adopt a baby, so he asked us if we would like to adopt you. As soon as we saw you, we instantly fell in love, and you became our little girl."

"Why was I left there?"

"We don't know much about your birth mother, only what Angela, the social worker that we used for your adoption could find out." Brittany said. "She was able to find out what hospital you were born in, your birthday, how much you weighed, and she found out who your birth mother was. When she was arre-" Britany said, but then stopped talking, coughed, and cleared her throat, making it seem as if that was why stopped talking. She didn't feel as if they needed to talk about Noelle's birth mother being arrested for child abandonment and endangerment. That wasn't important right now. They could talk about that when Noelle was older if she wanted to know, but for now, she didn't want her to worry about that. "When she was found, Angela told us that your birth mother loved you, but was young and couldn't care for a baby, so that was why she left you at the church. She knew that if she left you there, you would be found and be given to parents that could give you a better life than she could give you."

"Oh…so she gave me to you because she couldn't take care of me."

"Mm-hmm." Santana said.

"I'm glad." Noelle said without hesitation. "I wouldn't want any other moms than you."

Brittany and Santana were both relieved to hear that. They had been worried that when they told Noelle more about her adoption that she might have some pull to be with her birth mother, but thankfully, that wasn't the case.

"We're glad you're our girl too." Brittany said and she and Santana both kissed Noelle's cheeks and tickled her.

Noelle giggled and wriggled until they stopped tickling her. When she stopped laughing, she asked another question that had been on her mind. "When was the last time I was at the North Pole? I don't remember it." She was satisfied with the information about the adoption, but she was still curious about the other stuff.

"When you were three." Santana said.

"When you started to get older and able to comprehend more things, we had to stop going until you were old enough to understand the importance of keeping the truth about the North Pole a secret." Brittany added.

"Why?" Noelle asked. "If Santa wants people to believe in him, why not show everyone."

"There's a lot of layers-" Brittany said and then paused, taking a second to choose her words carefully. "I'll try to keep it as simple as I can… I once told Mama that Santa and the North Pole is the world's best kept secret that everyone knows about. Everyone knows Santa's village is in the North Pole, but most people think it's just a silly made up story. You either believe or you don't, but for safety reasons, Santa can't just show the village to the world to make people believe in him."

"Why though?"

"Do you remember Mama and me telling you that some people fear things they don't fully understand?"

"Yes."

"And do you remember us telling you that not everyone in the world is good? That some people are selfish, or greedy, or try to take advantage of other people?"

"Yes."

"Well that is called exploitation, and unfortunately it happens too often. As much as Santa would like to show the world the wonders of North Pole, there have been too many people that have tried to find it and exploit it for their own personal gain, and there are those that would be scared of the magic they can't understand and they would try to stop it. Santa has gone to a lot of effort to keep the North Pole and the people that live there safe."

"Oh…" Noelle said trailing off, but the concentrated expression on her face showed that she was truly processing everything that was just said.

"So do you understand why we waited to tell you about all this, and why it is so important that you don't tell anyone?" Santana asked.

Noelle nodded. "Yes…does Abuela and Abuelo know?"

Santana nodded. "Yes, but we only told them a few years ago. We kind of had to when they walked into the house unexpectedly and found all the furniture in the living room floating in the air as the vacuum cleaner vacuumed on its own." Santana said glancing at Brittany.

"Hey, I can clean the house quicker when I use magic than I can when I clean it by hand, and in my defense, I was supposed to be home alone. It's not my fault they came by unannounced." Brittany said shrugging her shoulders.

Noelle giggled. "What did they say?"

"Oh you know; they were completely freaked out. Apparently, Mom was in the backyard at the time, so she didn't know they were they there. I had to rush home from work because Abuela called me in a panic, yelling hysterically in Spanish about the house being haunted." Santana said with a little chuckle at the memory. At the time, it wasn't funny, but looking back at it, it was pretty funny. "But after we talked to them, they calmed down, and of course they thought it was pretty cool."

"Does Uncle Miguel, Auntie Lisa, Ally, and Alex know?"

Brittany shook her head. "Uncle Miguel and Auntie Lisa know, we decided to tell them after Abuela and Abuelo found out, but we didn't tell the twins. They were still too young at the time. They're seventeen now and we plan to tell them when they turn eighteen. We were going to wait until you were eighteen to tell you too, but things went awry tonight, so we decided to tell you now."

"I won't tell anyone." Noelle said.

"Not even when someone you know insists that Santa isn't real, or if you want to impress someone and tell them that you know Santa." Brittany asked to be sure.

"No, not then either."

"Do you promise?" Brittany asked and held up her pinky.

"We're trusting you." Santana added and held up her pinky too.

Noelle hooked her pinky with Brittany's and then she hooked her pinky with Santana's and said, "I promise."

"That's my girl." Brittany and Santana both cheered at the same time, proudly.

"Can we visit the North Pole now that I know?" Noelle asked and she bounced a little as she asked.

Brittany chuckled. "I think we can arrange a visit."

"Can we go tomorrow?!"

"I wish, but we can't go tomorrow." Brittany said. "We have family coming to visit us in a few days, and the elves in the North Pole are very busy. They have so many last minutes things to do to make sure that everything is ready for Christmas, and we wouldn't want to distract them, would we?"

"No, I guess not." Noelle said with a little pout, clearly disappointed.

"Don't worry, we'll go soon. I have to call Uncle Kris later today, so I'll talk to him and Nana and Papa about a good time for us to visit."

Noelle smiled widely. "Yes!"

Santana just chuckled. "You're going to love it. "I remember my first time there like it was yesterday. It was so special, not only because I was at the North Pole, but because that was when we got you."

"I can't wait." Noelle said. "Mom, can you show me some more magic?"

"I will, but not now." Brittany said and stood up. "It's time to go back to sleep."

"But it's nearly morning." Noelle countered. It was just after five o'clock in the morning. She usually got up at six-thirty for school.

"Mom is right." Santana said standing up from the bed as well. "We all had our sleep interrupted, so we should try to get a little more sleep. Plus, it's Saturday, we're supposed to be sleeping in anyways."

"Fine." Noelle grumbled and laid back down. She was so excited about everything she had just learned about her family, she was sure she wouldn't fall back to sleep.

Santana tucked her under the blankets again while Brittany picked up Lord Tubbington from the foot of the bed and laid him beside Noelle so they could cuddle.

"Night, Mija." Santana said and kissed her on her forehead and then Brittany kissed her as well.

"See ya in a few hours and we can talk some more about the North Pole." Brittany said.

"Okay. I have so many questions." Noelle said and she couldn't help but to yawn.

Santana turned off the lamp and they left the room. Brittany snapped her fingers to turn off all the lights in the living room and then they went back into their room. The lamp was still on from earlier, so they didn't have to worry about stumbling in the dark. They got into bed and Santana curled into Brittany after she turned off the lamp.

"I'm so glad she isn't mad at us anymore." Santana said.

"Me too. It was breaking my heart to think that our baby girl thought that we would try to manipulate her."

"Mine too." Santana said. "I'm glad we set it straight, but I never imagined that we would tell her so young."

"I didn't either, but I think she understands why she has to keep it a secret." Brittany said as she slowly started to run her fingers up and down Santana's arm.

"I think she does too, but she's also just a kid. Sometimes they get excited and just say stuff."

"I guess we're just going to have to have a little faith in her."

"Well, if I was going to have faith in anyone, it would be in her."

"I can't wait to take her to the North Pole." Brittany said. "I know it won't be her first time, but it will be the first time that she can remember. It'll be just like when I took you. I loved watching you experience it all for the first time."

"I can't wait either, but I think it'll be better with Noelle, because she's a child. She's going to be even more excited than I was."

"That's probably true." Brittany said. "My parents are going to freak out when we tell them."

It had been almost seven years since Noelle had been to the North Pole, and while Whitney and Pierce didn't mind traveling to Lima to visit them, they couldn't wait until Noelle was able to come back to the North Pole to see them.

Santana chuckled. "They totally are. We might have to sedate them just to calm them down."

"Probably." Brittany said rolling her eyes playfully. She could just picture her parents' reactions.

"It will probably be hard to tell who is more excited, Noelle, or your parents."

"For real." Brittany said.

They were quiet for a few moments, but then Brittany started chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Santana asked.

"I was just thinking of earlier when Noelle thought I was like Hermione Grainger and she was wondering if she was going to get an elf Hogwarts letter."

Santana laughed too. "That was funny."

"Just wait 'til she finds out its true."

"What?!" Santana yelped and sat up. It wasn't a well known fact that she liked 'Harry Potter', because Santana liked to try to hide her inner geek, but she did, and Brittany was one of the few people that knew that. "It's true? Seriously? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, not the details in the books specifically, that storyline is fictional, but Hogwarts is a real place. It's the same concept that Santa uses. Everyone knows about it, but they think it's fictional. That way it protects the magical world."

Santana's head started to swim with that piece of information. Just when she thought she had a grasp on things, Brittany always found a way to surprise her.

"So J.K. Rowling is…"

"A genius."

"Well, yeah, but I meant, is she a witch?"

"She's…"

"What?"

"I'm just kidding." Brittany said giggling. It had been a while since she had teased Santana like that.

"Oh my god, Britt!" Santana said and playfully smacked on her Brittany arm. "You're awful."

"You love me." Brittany said smugly.

"I do. I don't know why, but I do." Santana said and laid down again.

"Because I'm your favorite."

"You are, even if you do tease me."

"I know…and by the way, I was just kidding about kidding, Hogwarts is real."

"Britt!" Santana cried, and as she sat up again. "I'm going to get you." She said as she went for Brittany's most ticklish spot.

Brittany shrieked in laugher, trying to wriggle away, and after a few moments, she conceded. "Okay, I'm sorry!" St-stop!"

"Only if you promise to be nicer to me!"

"Okay, I promise!"

Santana stopped her tickle attack and then leaned down, nuzzling her nose with Brittany's. "And tell me you love me."

Brittany untangled her arms and then cupped both of Santana's cheeks with her hands. "I love you." She cooed and then kissed Santana's lips softly. The kiss lingered a few moments before Brittany pulled out of the kiss and nuzzled their noses together again. "I love you more today than I did the day I became human to be with you. It was the best decision I ever made and I would do it all again, a thousand times over."

Santana's heart fluttered and her cheeks heated up. She couldn't help but to kiss Brittany again. "I love you too, Brittany, more than I can possibly describe."

"You don't have to, because I can already feel it." Brittany said putting her hand over Santana's heart.

They kissed again and when they parted, Brittany kissed Santana on her forehead. "Let's try to get some sleep. In a few hours, we are going to have to entertain a little girl with some magic and plan a trip to the North Pole."

Santana chuckled and laid back down on Brittany's chest. "I can't wait."

-()-()-()-()-

 **AN** : Merry Christmas Day! As always, thank you for reading. Originally, I was going to end the story here, but I knew if I did, I'd get messages from some of you asking/begging for a North Pole chapter, so I cut you all off at the pass, and I'm writing it! That's an extra little gift for you all ;-) It's not finished yet, but I'm giving it all my free time (which I have little of) to have it done as soon as possible, and _hopefully_ posted before by New Year's.

I know I mention this all the time, and I don't want to be annoying, but I really do want your **feedback** , so if you are reading, please take a minute to send me your thoughts.

Thank you to naynay1963 for proofreading and being a good friend!

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own 'Glee' or any copyrighted material or products that are mentioned in this story.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 (Epilogue)**

"Are you ready?" Brittany asked.

"Yes." Santana said nodding her head and zipping up her parka.

They were in the North Pole in Brittany's apartment above Whitney and Pierce's home workshop. They had taken Noelle up to visit on New Year's Eve after spending Christmas week with Santana's side of the family. When they arrived close to midnight, North Pole time, they rushed to the workshop courtyard just in time to catch the count down and the crystal ornament drop.

After sharing midnight kisses and singing a few songs with the crowd to welcome the New Year, they went back to Whitney and Pierce's house where they visited for a bit, playing games and drinking hot chocolate. Around three o'clock in the morning, Noelle started to get tired, despite her excitement to be there. With the five-hour time difference between the North Pole and Lima, their internal clock was at ten o'clock at night, and it was well past Noelle's bedtime.

Brittany's apartment only had one bed and a couch to sleep on, but since there was a spare room in the house with a comfortable bed, they decided to have Noelle sleep in Brittany's old room in the house, and Santana and Brittany would sleep in the apartment.

"Let's go wake our girl." Brittany said with a wide smile.

They hurried from the apartment to the house, letting themselves in the back door. They greeted Pierce and Whitney who were in the kitchen making breakfast, and then they crept up the stairs to Noelle's room. After taking a moment to compose themselves, they opened the door. "Good Morning! It's time to get up!" They both cheered at the same time.

Noelle and Lord Tubbington, both woke with a start from the sudden noise, but when Noelle realized that it was her parents, she smiled. "Hey." She said sleepily.

"What are you still doing in bed, sleepyhead?" Brittany said. "We have stuff to do, unless you'd like to just sleep the day away." It was almost eleven o'clock in the morning, but since they had gone to bed so late, they needed to sleep in a bit.

"No." Noelle said quickly and practically jumped out of bed. They were only there for three days, and she didn't want to waste any time. She couldn't wait to see what else the North Pole had to offer.

This was actually Noelle's second trip to the North Pole in the past week and a half. Brittany and Santana had surprised her on her birthday with a day trip to the North Pole. Originally, they had planned to take her skiing, but after explaining the truth to Noelle about Santa a few days previously, they knew that the best birthday gift they could give her was a trip to the North Pole. They didn't have time to do more than one day as Miguel, Lisa, and the twins, were set to arrive in Lima the day after Noelle's Birthday for Christmas, so they planned the surprise trip for her birthday, and then a slightly longer trip around New Year's before Noelle had to go back to school.

On her birthday, Brittany and Santana took Noelle around the village, hitting the high points: The workshop, Santa's office, the list, the stables, the post office, and of course the geographic North Pole so she could stand on the top of the world. It was a whirlwind trip, but since it was December 22nd, Noelle was able to experience it in its pre-Christmas Day glory. It was very reminiscent of Santana's first day in the North Pole ten years previously, and even though Santana had been ecstatic experiencing it all for the first time, as predicted, Noelle's reactions to everything was much more joyous because she was seeing it from a child's perspective. She couldn't contain her excitement and was completely awestruck by the magic, both literal and emotional.

"Nana and Papa are making breakfast." Santana said and patted down Noelle's bed hair with her hands.

"What are they making?" Noelle asked eagerly. She was hungry.

"A better question would be 'what are they _not_ making?' They're so excited that you're here that they are making a feast." Brittany said with a little chuckle. She couldn't help but to think (and appreciate) that her parents were 'so extra'.

Noelle smiled widely. She was looking forward to her first North Pole breakfast. When they were there for her birthday, they only had lunch and dinner. That first dinner had been especially exciting, because even though it was three days before Christmas, and they were extremely busy, Santa and Mrs. Claus made time in their busy schedules to bring her a small wrapped gift and a cake. All the elves in the crowded cafeteria of the workshop sang 'Happy Birthday' to her and some even brought her cookies, so she wasn't sure if any meal could beat that. Ever.

"Make sure you take Tubbs with you. I'm sure he's hungry too." Santana added.

"Okay." Noelle said and picked him up from the foot of the bed and carried him out of the room.

"I still can't believe you insisted on bringing the cat. We could have just left him with my parents for a few days."

"San, he would have been so upset with us if we left him out. He hasn't been to the North Pole since he was a kitten and Santa gave him to us on our last Christmas here." Brittany said and then she smirked. "Plus I know how much you would miss him."

Santana scoffed. "Hardly."

Brittany rolled her eyes playfully. "Babe, this is me you are talking too. I know all your secrets, including your love for our cat."

"Fine…I would have missed him. There are you happy?" Santana said with faux annoyance.

"Mm-hmm." Brittany said smugly and pecked Santana on her lips. "Come on; let's go see if we can make a dent in the mountain of food that is downstairs."

Santana chuckled. "I doubt it. Your parents have enough food down there for fifteen people."

"Well we can try. There's nothing like breakfast at home on New Year's morning." Brittany said feeling nostalgic. She had been back to the North Pole over the years, but it was always a short hop. She missed being able to stay in the North Pole for longer than half an hour.

They went downstairs and made a valiant effort in tackling breakfast. By the time they were finished eating, they were all stuffed.

"It's a good thing that we're going to get some exercise today." Brittany said, rubbing her full belly.

"Where are we going?" Noelle piped up. They had not told her any plans. They wanted everything to be a surprise.

"You'll see." Pierce said with a smile, barely able to contain his own excitement.

"Come on, baby girl." Whitney said standing up and holding her hand out for Noelle to take. "Let's go pick out an outfit for you. The quicker you're dressed, the quicker we can leave."

"Okay." Noelle said taking her hand and they both bounced out of the room.

Brittany and Pierce used their magic to clean the kitchen, and when Whitney and Noelle returned, they all put on their outerwear and left the house, walking into the heart of the town. Noelle's head was on a swivel as they walked. They went into a few of the stores, mainly to look at all the holiday displays that were still up, but Noelle did ask for a magic journal, pen, and marker set that never ran out of paper and ink. Brittany bought it for her, as well as a new magic purse for Santana.

When they finished shopping, they stopped at the North Pole's (better) version of Starbucks, The Gingerbread House, for a warm drink, and then they walked down to the outdoor skating rink. Noelle loved to ice skate, but her eyes lit up when she saw that there were a lot of elf children already on the ice. Whitney and Pierce summoned their own skates from home, and Brittany reached into the small rucksack that she had been carrying on her back and took out three pairs of ice skates for her, Santana, and Noelle.

"That's so cool." Noelle said of the bag that appeared too small to hold more than a book, let alone three pairs of ice skates. She was still so in awe of all the magic she was experiencing.

"Your Mama thought so too when she first saw it. She hasn't owned a normal purse or piece of luggage since she got her first magic purse ten years ago." Brittany said with a chuckle.

"Why would I?" Santana said playfully rolling her eyes. "I can take my whole wardrobe with me when we travel, which means I have options, and I never have to pay for baggage fees because it just looks like a carry-on."

"You always over pack." Brittany said.

"How many times do I have to tell you…'Over packed and ready to go,' I'm prepared for anything."

Brittany shook her head in amusement. "Well I'll admit; it has come in handy a few times."

"Mm-hmm." Santana said smugly.

"Can I have one? Maybe a bag for school?" Noelle asked.

"We'll see." Brittany said. She wasn't sure that giving her a magic book bag was a good idea in the human world, at least not yet. Maybe when she was older. While she trusted Noelle to keep the truth about the North Pole a secret, she was worried about her inadvertently drawing attention to herself if she pulled something out of the bag that was obviously too big for it in front of someone else.

Once they had their skates on, they all went onto the ice. Brittany and Santana held hands, as did Whitney and Pierce, as they slowly followed behind Noelle showing off what tricks she could do on the ice. They circled the rink a few times, before Noelle met a little girl that she started to play with. It wasn't long before word got out to some of the other kids that Noelle was human. None of them had ever met a human before, so they all wanted to talk to her.

"Should we be worried?" Santana asked as a small group of seven or eight kids stood around Noelle. She didn't want her to become a spectacle, as if she was an attraction.

"I don't think so." Brittany said. "She's just as curious about them, as they are about her. They're just kids learning more about each other."

"I guess you're right." Santana said, feeling less concerned.

Brittany tightened her grip on Santana's gloved hand and playfully bumped their shoulders together. "She'll be fine."

Santana smiled and nodded. "This is nice."

"It's been a while since we went skating together."

Santana squeezed Brittany's hand. "We should do this more often. It gives us a good excuse to hold hands."

"You don't need an excuse to hold my hand, but I'm down for us skating together more often." Brittany said and then pecked Santana lips.

Brittany and Santana skated for another twenty minutes before they left the ice to join Whitney and Pierce on a bench. They chatted together for another half an hour as they watched Noelle skate with her new friends.

Before they left, they had coordinated with a few other parents to meet at the rink the next day so the kids could play together again.

"Where are we going now?" Noelle chirped.

"The Candy Cane Forest." Pierce said.

"Isn't that were you work Papa?" Noelle asked.

"Yep!" Pierce said proudly. He transferred from Wrapping and Inventory to the forest a few years ago, so he was happy to be able to show Noelle where he worked.

They walked out of town, taking the trail to the forest. The pathway was lit by lamps, but as they got further and further away from the town, the darker it got.

"It's so weird that it is dark here all the time." Noelle said. She knew it was supposed to be the middle of the day, but it was dark as if it was the middle of the night.

"It's because of the earth's tilt." Brittany explained. "The earth tilts on its axis away or towards the sun depending on the time of year and which hemisphere you are in. It's what creates the different seasons we see at home, but at the north and south poles, they are the point on the earth where the axis goes through, so they are either the furthest or the closet to the sun, so that's why the North Pole has six months of darkness and six months of daylight."

Noelle nodded showing she understood. She remembered her teacher touching on this subject once. "Can we come back during the summer?"

"Oh you have to!" Whitney said. "It's simply beautiful, and of course, you have to see the Reindeer Games."

"The games are so fun!" Pierce cheered clapping his hands. "You'd love them."

"Reindeer Games?" Noelle said scrunching here eyebrows. "Like in the song?"

"Mm-hmm." Santana said. "Think of it as the Olympics for reindeer. Santa's team for his Christmas run is chosen from the top eight finishers. I've seen it twice and it was amazing to watch."

"Oh wow! I wanna see it too! Can we come back for that?" Noelle asked. "Please, please, please!"

The adults all chuckled.

"I think we can work it out." Brittany said. "You should be out of school for the summer by then. And if Mama can work it out with her work schedule, maybe we can come up here for a few weeks."

"I'd love that. This is the best place in the whole world." Noelle said.

"There's a lot of places to in the world to see." Brittany said. "But I'm sure that it would rank pretty high on the list of 'best places'."

"Well it's the best place I've seen so far." Noelle said.

"Even better than Disney World?" Santana teased. She remembered Noelle saying that she thought it was 'the best place in the world' when they took her there a year and a half ago.

"Yes…but Disney World is a close second." Noelle said very seriously. She had loved their trip to Disney. She was hoping to go back again one day.

When they arrived at the forest, they first went into the sorting, formation, and packing facility. Since it was New Year's day, almost everyone was off for the day, and production was halted, but there were still a few people around, so Pierce was able to give them a tour and introduce them to a few of his friends. The harvesting and processing of the candy canes didn't end when Christmas was over. Depending on the time of the year, the candy canes were gathered, and after a quality control inspection, they were either individually wrapped and packaged whole, or melted down and reformed into round peppermint candies that were a year round staple in the human world.

After their tour, they went into the forest. Prior to arriving, Noelle had been told that the candy canes literally grew off trees, but until she saw it in person, she didn't truly believe it.

"Oh my gosh!" She said she pointing to the nearest tree that had candy canes. "Mama, how cool is this?!"

Santana chuckled. "I know Mija. I reacted the same way when I first saw it."

"Here, have one." Pierce said and picked one of the candy canes off a branch and gave it to her.

Noelle took it and then tasted it. "This is the best candy cane I have ever had."

"That's because it's fresh." Whitney said. "When I'm making peppermint bark, I always have your Papa bring home fresh picked canes to use in my special recipe."

"Can we plant one of these trees in our backyard?" Noelle asked looking at Brittany with pleading eyes.

Brittany snorted in amusement. "No, honey."

"But why? We have a fence. No one will see it"

"For one, it gets too hot at home. The candy canes would melt in the summer heat, but even if they didn't, look how tall these trees are. They're taller than our house, and the candy canes grow all the way to the top. I could just see it now…one breezy day and instead of leaves, we'd have candy canes everywhere."

Noelle giggled. "That would be funny, but I don't know how we'd explain that to other people."

"Mm-hmm." Brittany said.

"And not to mention, if we had a tree that grew candy, you would have cavities in every tooth in your head." Santana added with a chuckle.

"I would not. I brush my teeth." Noelle said and smiled widely showing as much of her teeth as she could.

"And we're glad that you do." Santana said.

Whitney snapped her fingers and five large baskets appeared in her hands. "Okay everyone, take a basket. I promised Joy that I would make enough peppermint bark for all the workshop elves to snack on during the after Christmas audit, so I need a lot of candy canes." She said as everyone took a basket. "Make sure you get them from different trees, that's how you get a good sampling."

"Okay, Nana!" Noelle said excitedly as she looked around for a tree that she thought looked the best, and rushed as fast as she could in the ankle deep snow towards it.

"Don't go too far, honey." Brittany called as a reminder. Before they had left Lima, Brittany had explained the dangers of the below freezing temperatures in the North Pole to Noelle and stressed that she shouldn't wander off on her own, and that she needed to always bundle up when going outside. "Stay close to the lamps so we can see you."

"I will. I'm just going to these trees over here." Noelle said pointing to the groups of trees that she had chosen.

"Okay, that's fine." Brittany said. She wasn't more than ten yards away.

Noelle walked up to a tree, humming to herself as she very carefully selected her first candy cane, plucked it from the branch, and put it in her basket. A few moments later, Whitney and Pierce started singing along to the song that Noelle was humming, and then Noelle started singing as well.

Santana couldn't help but to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Brittany asked.

Santana motioned around them, to the trees, to Noelle, to Pierce and Whitney who were already picking candy canes. "Most families go apple picking together, but not us. We go _candy cane picking_."

Brittany giggled as well. "We are not your usual family."

"No we are not…and that's one of the things I love about us."

"Me too." Brittany as she smiled and leaned down, kissing Santana's lips softly before they each selected a tree to start their collection.

When they were almost finished, with their baskets nearly full to the brim, Noelle surprised them all by yelling, "Mom! Mama! Come here!" and she seemed panicked.

Brittany and Santana rushed to her, Pierce and Whitney not far behind.

"Are you okay?" Santana and Brittany both said as they came up to Noelle who was kneeling in the snow, looking down at the base of the tree.

"Look, he's hurt! We have to help him!" Noelle said pointing to a small white fox.

The adults all looked down at the at the arctic fox cub whose right front leg was injured and bloody. Santana quickly put her hands on Noelle's shoulders, pulled her to her feet, and back a bit. "Don't touch him. He's scared and hurt; he may lash out if you try."

"But we have to help him." Noelle said. The fox didn't look as if he was vicious. He was just lying there, but he was watching them intently.

"We will help him, but hold on just a minute, Mija. He's not like Lord Tubbington, we can't just touch him, he's a wild animal, and we have to be extra careful with him, for our safety and for his." Santana said and looked at Brittany, silently asking her to do something.

Brittany looked around trying to find evidence of a mama fox, but all she could see was a single set of tracks that led in from the direction of the barren tundra outside of the village with drops of blood to where the cub was laying. "He looks like he's alone. I think he came into the forest to escape the wind. He's just a baby…he could have been separated from his mother, or maybe he was abandoned."

"He looks weak. We need to get him to the vet. If we don't, he'll probably die out here." Whitney said.

Hearing that the fox might die, Noelle turned to Brittany. "Mom, we can't let him die!" She cried and she looked on the verge of tears.

"We aren't, baby girl. I promise we're going to help him." Brittany said.

"I'll call Dr. Taylor and tell her to expect us. Her office is probably closed for the holiday." Pierce said and pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket.

Brittany nodded. She snapped her fingers, causing the candy canes in her basket to disappear, and in their place, a soft fabric appeared. She handed the basket to her mother and then she crouched down.

"Be careful, Britt." Santana said as she held Noelle in a comforting embrace.

"I will." Brittany said as she inched towards the cub.

She thought about using her magic to levitate the cub into the basket, but she was afraid that that would scare him more than she would and she didn't want to cause him any more stress than was necessary. She was taking a chance trying to touch him, but she had on a thick coat and gloves, so she was hoping that if the fox tried to bite or scratch her that there would be enough layers of protection between him and her skin.

As she neared the cub, she could hear him whimper in fear, but he didn't try to move away from her. That's when she knew that he was too weak to even defend himself. He definitely needed their help, and fast. She tried to gain his trust by rubbing his head and behind his ears as she spoke to him in a calm, soft voice. "It's okay little guy, we're going to help you. You're cute, aren't you?" Then after the cub stopped whimpering, she thought that he trusted her enough to know that she wasn't there to hurt him, so she reached out with both hands and picked him up, being especially carefully of his injured leg.

She carefully transferred him into the basket and took it out of her mother's hands. "I don't think he's going to hurt us. He's too weak."

"Can I pet him?" Noelle asked. She had seen her mother do it, and she wanted to comfort him. Her poor little heart was breaking to see the cub in such a state.

"Not yet." Brittany said. "Let's get him to a doctor first."

"Do you want to hop there, and we'll meet you there?" Whitney asked. If Brittany hopped to the animal hospital, she could be there in a matter of seconds.

Brittany shook her head. "It may be too much for him. He looks like he needs something gentler. Let's just hurry back to the village."

"Dr. Taylor said she'd be waiting for us." Pierce said.

"Okay, great." Brittany said cradling the basket in one arm and she gently placed her hand on the cub to hold him in place. She didn't want him to be jostled around as they walked.

When they got back into town, Pierce and Whitney decided to go home. They didn't want to crowd the vet's office. Santana considered sending Noelle with them while she and Brittany took care of the cub, but she knew Noelle would not want to do that. She had a soft spot for animals, and since there really was no harm in her going with them, she didn't suggest it.

They went to the stables, to the animal hospital entrance. Dr. Taylor and a veterinary tech were waiting for them in the empty lobby when they arrived. She ushered them into an exam room and then took the basket from Brittany, setting it on the table.

"So who do we have here?" Dr. Taylor said peering into the basket.

"His name is Snowball, because he looks like one." Noelle said softly. She had decided on a name for him right after Brittany put him in the basket.

Brittany and Santana glanced at each other upon learning that she had given him a name.

Dr. Taylor pulled Snowball out of the basket and set him on the table for her tech to hold while she examined him. The cub whimpered as she moved him. "It's okay Snowball, we're not going to hurt you. Well, you're just a baby. You couldn't be more than a few weeks old."

Santana, Brittany, and Noelle stood in the back of the room, just watching Dr. Taylor and her assistant work. When she was finished with her initial examination, she turned to the family to give them her findings. "I need to run some blood tests for infections and take an x-ray of the leg to see how badly it's injured. Hopefully it won't need surgery, but I think he'll be okay."

Noelle sighed in relief. "Okay, good." She said and looked up at her parents to see them smiling down at her.

Dr. Taylor smiled at Noelle when she looked at her again. "Noelle, your grandpa told me that you are the one that found him."

Noelle nodded. "Yes." She said shyly.

"Well it's a good thing you did. You saved his life. You're a hero."

Noelle's cheeks heated up from the attention. "Can I pet him?" She asked. She really wanted comfort the little cub. Every time she looked as his face, all she saw was sadness.

"Sure." Dr. Taylor nodded and motioned for her to come over. Her assistant had a good hold on the cub, even though he wasn't struggling to get away, so she was certain that it was safe for Noelle to touch him.

Noelle took off her gloves and coat, and went to stand beside the doctor. She reached her hand out to rub him behind his ears, as she usually did with Lord Tubbington. A wide smile broke out on her face as she did. "Hi, Snowball. We're going to make sure you're okay. You don't have to be afraid."

"It looks like he hasn't eaten in a few days, so he is definitely hungry. We'll give him a bottle of replacement milk before we draw some blood and take an x-ray so we can patch up his leg,"

"Can I help feed him?" Noelle asked looking up.

"As long as your moms are okay with it." Dr. Taylor said.

Noelle looked at Brittany and Santana with hopeful eyes.

"I'm okay with it." Brittany said and Santana nodded. "Me too." They were both sure that Dr. Taylor wouldn't have said she could if she thought there was any danger in Noelle feeding him.

"Great." Dr. Taylor chirped. "Do you want to come back with me to get the milk?"

Noelle nodded emphatically. "Yes."

"Okay, come on." Dr. Taylor said motioning towards the door that would take them from the exam room into the back.

Noelle looked at the door, and then back at Snowball, who now that he was warm and out of the elements, was nuzzling his head against Noelle's hand, looking for more affection. He was no longer scared that they were going to hurt him. He understood that they were trying to help him and he was slowly building trust for them. "Be back in a minute, Snowball." She said and then followed Dr. Taylor into the back.

Santana and Brittany removed their outerwear since they were going to be there for a little while. They piled them on the bench in the corner of the room. They both went over to Snowball and took turns petting him as they chatted with the vet tech, whose name was Gloria. Brittany remembered her from when she used to work in the stables years ago.

A few minutes later, Noelle bounced into the room holding a bottle with warm milk. Dr. Taylor followed her into the room holding what looked like a puppy pee pad. She spread it out on the table and instructed Gloria to lay Snowball on the pad.

"Okay, hold it just like I showed you." Dr. Taylor said.

Noelle nodded and then held the nipple of the bottle out for Snowball, tilting it back after he took it into his mouth. Noelle petted Snowball with her free hand as he eagerly drank from the bottle.

When he was finished eating, he turned his head and licked Noelle's hand twice.

She giggled. "He gave me kisses."

"That's because he was thankful that you fed him, Mija." Santana said with a smile.

"He looks sleepy now." Brittany said with a chuckle. Snowball's eyes were getting heavy.

"We better do the blood tests and work on that leg so he can get some rest." Dr. Taylor said.

"Then we should go so you can work." Brittany said.

"We're just going to leave him here?" Noelle asked. "He was already abandoned once; I don't want to do it to him again. He's just like me, he needs a good home." She said repeating words that Brittany and Santana had said when they spoke of her adoption a few weeks ago.

Brittany and Santana we're both caught off guard by that. They were not prepared for her to make that comparison between her and Snowball, but thankfully, Dr. Taylor jumped in. "Well, he's still hurt pretty badly, and is going to need around the clock care, so he's going to have to stay here in the hospital until he's better and able to be returned to the wild, but if your moms are okay with it, you can come by as much as you want to visit him, and to help us feed him. Would you like that?"

"Yes." Noelle nodded.

"Great, you've been such a big help, so you can be my little assistant." Dr. Taylor said and she glanced at Brittany and Santana who silently mouthed _'Thank you'_. "I'll send your moms a feeding schedule once I'm finished fixing his leg."

"Did you hear that Snowball, I'm going to come back soon to give you some company and feed you." Noelle said scratching under his little chin.

Snowball just licked her wrist.

"Alright Noelle, let's go so Dr. Taylor can continue working." Brittany said.

"Okay." Noelle chirped happy that she was going to see Snowball again soon.

Once they put on all their outerwear, they all thanked Dr. Taylor and Gloria for their help with Snowball and they started to walk home.

"I can't wait to tell Nana and Papa that I get to help with Snowball." Noelle said.

"I'm sure they'll be just as excited as you are." Santana said with a chuckle.

"And I'll bet that Nana will want go too. Arctic foxes are her favorite animal." Brittany said.

"Oh really?" Noelle said. They were quickly becoming her favorite animal too.

"Mm-hmm." Brittany said and then motioned to a bench. "Hey, let's sit here for a minute."

"Okay?" Noelle said unsure of why they were stopping.

When they were all sitting, Brittany gave Santana a knowing look, because she knew they were both thinking the same thing.

"Honey, we should talk about Snowball." Brittany said.

"What about him?"

"Well, I don't know how to say this without hurting your feelings, but you know we can't keep him, right?"

The smile that was on Noelle's face faded and she visibly deflated. "Why?" She mumbled.

"Mija, he's an _arctic_ fox. We live in Ohio; it isn't the right environment for him. He should be living up here in his natural habitat. Plus he's a fox, not a dog, or a cat. He should be living free, out in the wild. It's where he belongs."

Noelle nodded. Dr. Taylor had even mentioned him being returned to the wild when he was better. Deep down she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep him, but there was still a part of her that wanted to. "Okay…but I can still visit him, right?"

"Of course you can." Brittany said. "I think he would be sad if you didn't. He really liked you."

Noelle smiled again. "He did.

"He's a sweet little guy." Santana said. "He even nuzzled me and Mom's hands when we were petting him while you were getting the milk."

"See, he liked you too…are you sure we can't keep him? I'm sure he and Lord Tubbington would be great friends. We could just keep the air conditioning really low in the summer." She said, grasping at one last straw.

Brittany and Santana both chuckled and shook their heads. "No, Mija." Santana said at the same time that Brittany said, "Sorry, honey."

"Well it was worth a shot." Noelle said shrugging.

"You can always try." Brittany said with a smile.

"Will he be okay in the wild?" Noelle asked.

"I think once his leg is better and he gets a few more good meals in him to help him grow stronger, he'll be just fine." Brittany said.

"I think he'll be fine too. And if I had to guess, Dr. Taylor probably won't release him until he is a little older too, that way he'll be better able to take care of himself." Santana added.

Noelle nodded again. She liked what she was hearing. "As long as he is okay, I'm okay with him going back in the wild."

"That's my girl." Brittany said kissing her cheek. "Mine too." Santana said and kissed her other cheek. They were so relieved that this conversation went better than they expected. They half expected a fight, but they were glad that Noelle was willing to listen to reason. She loved animals and always wanted what was best for them.

"When we visit Snowball, can we visit the deer too? I liked them the last time we were here."

"Of course." Brittany said. "Guess who else has a soft spot for the reindeer?"

"Who?"

Brittany flicked her head towards Santana. "Mama was so in love with them and they loved her. Probably because they were able to exploit her for carrots. You should have seen how many she gave them."

"Exploit implies that I was tricked in some way… I was not exploited; I knew what I was doing and I gave them the carrots _willingly_." Santana insisted.

"Mm-hmm. Spoiled them rotten, you did." Brittany said smugly.

"Like she does Lord Tubbington?" Noelle said with a little smirk. She too knew of Santana's love for the cat. Santana had not been fooling anyone with her fake indifference for Lord Tubbington.

"Exactly." Brittany said.

Santana rolled her eyes, knowing that they both had her. "You two think you're so smart, don't you."

"Yes!" Noelle giggled. "You're a big softy!"

"The biggest." Brittany said even smugger than she was a moment ago.

"Okay, that's it; I'm going to get both of you." Santana said and Brittany and Noelle both shrieked knowing that a tickle attack was coming.

Brittany grabbed Noelle by the hand. "Baby Girl, run!" She said and they both started running toward Whitney and Pierce's house on the (thankfully) freshly scraped and salted sidewalk.

Santana just laughed as she took off after them.

-()-()-()-()-

The rest of their trip flew by. It seemed as if it was over in a blink of an eye, and Noelle had to go back to school the next day.

"I don't want to go home yet." Noelle pouted.

They were in the workshop cafeteria finishing dinner with Santa and Joy. Their fifteen minute sled ride was scheduled to take them home in a few hours. With the time change, it would be late at night in the North Pole when they left, but they planned to return home in Lima not long after dark. That way their chances of being seen as they landed in the backyard was minimal, but they were still home early enough in the evening to get Noelle ready for school.

"Mija, you have to go back to school. The holidays are over." Santana said before she took a sip of her tea.

"I know, but I still wish we could stay longer. This trip was so short."

"Aren't you ready to see your teacher and your friends again? You haven't seen them in almost three weeks." Brittany said.

"Yes, I really miss Claire, but I'm not ready to leave my new friends up here either."

Noelle had made several new friends in the short amount of time that she had been in the North Pole. She had play dates with the kids that she met ice skating on the first day of their trip, as well as some of the kids of Brittany's friends. Mercedes had a daughter that was only a few months older than Noelle, Tina and Mike had a son that was less than a year younger than her, Kurt and Adam had a daughter that was close to seven and a half, and Quinn and Puck's twins, a boy and a girl, were a few weeks shy of turning nine. She had had a good time with all of them, and she wanted to spend more time with them.

"And I'm going to miss Snowball too. What's he going to think when I don't come back tomorrow to see him?" Noelle added.

True to Noelle's word, she went to visit Snowball a couple of times a day, helping with his feedings and keeping him company to help build his spirits now his mobility was forever changed. After they had left the day they found him, Dr. Taylor ran some tests and took x-rays, and unfortunately, his leg was worse than she initially thought. It had been broken in several places, and he had an infection that had spread to the bone that required his leg to be amputated between his middle joint and shoulder. When Noelle found out that he lost his leg, she was on the verge of tears, but her tears were quickly dried up when Dr. Taylor told her that she intended to fit him with a prosthetic leg after his wound healed, so he would be able to walk on all four legs again. Noelle was glad that he would eventually be able to walk semi-normally again, but what happened next was not only surprising, it had made her so happy, she was ecstatic.

Dr. Taylor said that as an amputee, she didn't think that Snowball would be able to be returned to the wild, and that to ensure his survival, she was recommending that he stay in the village. As fate would have it, Whitney and Pierce had taken Noelle to that feeding, instead of Brittany and Santana, and they immediately volunteered to adopt him when they found out that he needed a home. Whitney's grandmother had adopted an injured arctic fox when Whitney was young and she had loved them ever since. She had always wanted one, but of course, she would never take one out of the wild that was perfectly healthy, but now that the opportunity with Snowball had presented itself, Whitney couldn't help but to take it. It was a dream that was one hundred and seventy-five years in the making.

Whitney and Pierce knew they had some work ahead of them. Snowball would need training so he could be domesticated and live out the rest of his life as their pet. He was already getting used to being around people and learning to trust them, so with some help from Dr. Taylor, they were optimistic that it wouldn't take them too long, because foxes were highly intelligent animals and easily adapted to their surroundings. Noelle was just glad that she would be able to see Snowball again, because she had thought that after they left to go home, she would never see him again, and even though she couldn't take him with her to Ohio, he would still be a part of their family, and that was good enough for her.

"Nana and I are going to be visiting him every day until he can leave the hospital, so we'll show him your picture and tell him that you'll be back to visit him, but I'm sure he won't forget you." Pierce said wisely. "You're his hero, remember."

Noelle couldn't help to but to smile.

"And you'll be back to the North Pole soon." Santa said. "I hear that you have another week off school in February."

"But that's forever away Uncle Kris!" Noelle pouted dramatically.

All the adults just chuckled because it was only six weeks away.

"I'm sure it will be here before you know it." Joy said.

"And hopefully by then, Snowball's leg will be healed and he will be learning how to walk with his prosthesis." Whitney chirped. "If everything goes well, we can bring him home after his physical therapy is completed."

"I hope so too." Noelle said.

"So what are your plans before you leave?" Joy asked.

"I think we're just going to hang out together at the house and relax, and then we'll go to the stables a little early so we can see Snowball one more time and visit with some of the deer again before our flight." Brittany answered.

They knew that Noelle was sad to be leaving the North Pole, but they were hoping that a little time being around the animals would perk her up.

"Sounds like a calm night." Santa said. "I wish our night was going to be as calm, but Joy and I have to finalize the plans for the after Christmas audit. I'm sure you remember how that is?"

Brittany snorted in amusement. "Yes, it's absolutely crazy. I can honestly say that that is one thing about the North Pole that I don't miss."

"What you don't want to come back and help us with it?" Joy teased.

"Yeah, I could use always use an extra person on my team." Whitney teased as well. She was now the head of the Ornament Department. "You know, counting all those ornaments by hand…we need all the people we can get."

"Maybe I can hop up here a few days and help while Noelle is at school and Santana is at work." Brittany said. She had some orders for her craft business that she needed to work on, but she was sure that she could find the time to fit it in as well.

"We just teasing, honey." Whitney said with a little smile. "We've got it all under control."

"I'm sure you do." Santana said. "I wish my office worked half as efficiently as this entire village does. If it did, I wouldn't have to work as much." She said. She was sure most of the people she worked with were idiots, but she didn't want to voice that in front of Noelle.

"Well after so many centuries, we have it down to a science." Santa said proudly.

"It's certainly impressive." Santana said and then ruffled Noelle's hair. "Don't you think so, Mija?"

"Yes, that's why I think we should stay a few extra days." Noelle said reaching.

The adults all chucked. "Nice try, kiddo." Santana said and couldn't help but to catch the "she-gets-this-from-you" look that Brittany was giving her. She pretended to ignore it, because she knew she was right. "You may only have two days of school this week, but you will be present for them. School is important, and we're coming back to visit soon. Auntie Joy is right; it will be here before you know it."

Noelle nodded, but her bottom lip was slightly jutting out.

-()-()-()-()-

A few hours later, after saying their goodbyes to Whitney and Pierce, they walked the short distance to the animal hospital at the stables. The office was usually closed at eleven o'clock at night, the only exception being a veterinary tech that stayed on duty to care for the animals after hours if they had any staying for inpatient care, but since Dr. Taylor knew they were leaving, and that Noelle would want to say goodbye to Snowball, she decided to be there to say goodbye as well to her little assistant.

Dr. Taylor ushered them in and they went into the back to see Snowball. He had been sleeping, but as soon as he saw them all, he perked up. Dr. Taylor picked him up from his pen and carefully set him in the small, but fluffy and comfortable bed that he had been using for his feedings and visits. He was still weak from the malnutrition and surgery, but he was slowly improving. She didn't want to rush things, so she wanted his movement limited until he was stronger.

"Hi Snowball!" Noelle chirped and scratched under his fuzzy chin. Snowball licked her hand a few times and then started to purr as she ran her hand down the length of his back, to the end of his bushy tail.

"Moms and I have to go home tonight, because I have to go back to school, but we won't be gone forever. We'll be back to visit you soon."

Brittany and Santana each took turns scratching under his chin and behind his ears as Noelle talked to him, telling him how much she would miss him, and that she loved him as much as she loved Lord Tubbington.

Since they had Lord Tubbington with them, in a charmed pet carrier that kept him warm from the frigid outside temperatures, they took him out of his carrier and they introduced them to each other. Snowball immediately seemed interested in him. Lord Tubbington took a few moments to regard him, but he quickly assessed that Snowball posed no threat and went to sit beside him.

They stayed with Snowball and Dr. Taylor for twenty minutes, before it was time to go into the stables for a brief visit with the deer before their flight home. Noelle was very sad to be leaving him, but she was happy when Dr. Taylor said that she would send her a message, through either Brittany or Whitney, of Snowball's condition every day. After putting Snowball back in his pen, and Lord Tubbington in his carrier, they thanked Dr. Taylor for all her help and then went into the stable area.

There was a lot of people around, because the stables were a twenty-four hour operation. They tended to travel at night, because even with an invisibility charm, they were still visible when loading and unloading, so they had to do it under the cover of nightfall. Their schedules depended on the time zone in the part of the world they needed to travel to, to get to one of Santa's many businesses in the human world.

At the moment, half of the deer were out on a trip, but the other half were in for the night. Mike was their driver again. He always seemed to make sure that he was scheduled for the Lopez family transports. Since they were early for their flight, Mike was still preparing the sled, so they left their small amount of luggage and Lord Tubbington him, and the three of them went to visit Pop and Lock, who were in the retired deer section. They were almost twelve years old, and they were now able to enjoy their days lounging around the stables and paddocks. Brittany snapped her fingers and a bag of baby carrots appeared.

Brittany winked at Santana, who playfully rolled her eyes at Brittany, but she took the carrots and she and Noelle gave them out to Pop and Lock, and a few of the other retired reindeer that came to them.

When it came close to departure time, they said their goodbyes to the deer and walked towards Mike's waiting sled. As they were passing, what they thought was an empty stall, because the door was open, they accidently ran into someone who was coming out.

"Oh, I'm sorry-" Brittany started to say, but then stopped when she recognized the person. "Vivian?" She said in surprise.

When Santana heard the name, she briefly stiffened and then turned to see the woman.

"Brittany?" Vivian said just as confused and there was a short, but awkward silence. "I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah, we came up a few days ago to visit my parents. We're on our way home." Brittany said then looked at Santana and Noelle. "You remember Santana and Noelle."

"Yes." She said politely, trying to avoid Santana's annoyed gaze, but she smiled and waved at Noelle. "Hi, Noelle."

"Hi." Noelle said and waved in return, though she wasn't sure how she should feel about her. She could feel the uneasiness in the air.

"So I'm guessing you believe in Santa again."

Noelle nodded. "Yes."

"That's great. I'm glad to hear it. It would be a shame for a sweet girl like you to miss out on all this." Vivian said, still smiling, and Noelle started to warm up to her.

"Thanks. I love it here. It's the best."

"It really is." Vivian said before she looked back at Brittany and then braved a glance at Santana. "I'm very sorry about what happened a few weeks ago. I shouldn't have come to your house like I did. That was wrong."

Santana felt the urge to give her a piece of her mind, but she didn't for two reasons. The first was that she didn't want to do it in front of Noelle, and the second was that she could see the sincerity in Vivian's expressions and hear it in her voice, so she decided to accept her apology, let it go, and move past the incident.

Santana nodded and then softened, a bit. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

Vivian nodded as well.

"When did you start working here?" Brittany asked. "I thought you were in the toyshop."

"I'm still there; this is my… other job." Vivian said choosing her words in front of Noelle carefully, but her cheeks had a hint of embarrassment to them. It was obvious that her additional assignment was a result from what had happened at their house. "After I ' _visited'_ the mine for two days, I started to work here part time, mucking the stalls for a few hours a week for the next six months."

Brittany nodded. Mucking the stalls was a common consequence in the North Pole for elves that did not work in the stables. Usually, it was only for a week or two, maybe a month max, but six months was a lot. The coal mine was not as common of a consequence, but when used, it was only used sparingly, and always for short amounts of time. Part of Brittany felt bad for Vivian; even though she knew she had brought this all on herself.

"I really am sorry." Vivian said again.

Brittany nodded. "I know you are, Viv. And thanks." She too had accepted the apology and was willing to move past it.

"Well…" Vivian started to say and pointed to another stall. "I better get in there so I can finish up this row. The audit starts tomorrow, and I need to get home soon."

Brittany chuckled. "And we better get this one home and into bed." She said in her normal tone.

"Maybe I'll see you when you come back?"

"Yeah. Should be in a few weeks."

"I'll still be here." Vivian said, resigned to her punishment. "Have a good ride home."

"Thanks." Brittany and Santana said at the same time.

Vivian waved at Noelle one more time and then walked into the next stall to continue her work.

Brittany and Santana glanced at each other, both surprised by the apology. Brittany wasn't sure if this was the start of Vivian turning her life around, or if it was just a temporary side effect of her new _jobs_ , but she hoped it was the former. When Vivian wasn't so shortsighted and reckless, she was actually pleasant to be around.

"She seemed okay to me." Noelle said quietly to them as they walked to the sled.

"She is." Santana said, surprising Brittany. "There's a lesson we can take from her…" She said to Noelle, wanting to put a positive spin on the whole thing. "When she messed up, she apologized, even when it was embarrassing for her. Not a lot of people do that. It's an admirable quality, so always own your mistakes, okay?"

"Okay." Noelle said nodding and thinking about everything that she had seen concerning Vivian. It was proving to be an unexpected distraction from her sadness of leaving the North Pole.

After a quick flight, and some friendly conversation with Mike, they landed in their back yard, undetected. Santana and Noelle bid Mike farewell before they went into the house with the bags and Lord Tubbington while Brittany stayed with Mike for a few more minutes to help him water the reindeer.

With a hug and a promise to see each other soon, Mike left for his next assignment, and Brittany went into the house. She snapped her fingers to remove her North Pole gear. She found Noelle, Santana, and Lord Tubbington in Noelle's room, and they were all free their gear too. In fact, Noelle was already in bed. She had taken a shower before they left the North Pole, so all she had to do was brush her teeth and change into pajamas.

Noelle yawned as Brittany and Santana adjusted the blankets around her and then kissed her forehead. While it was only a little past seven o'clock at night in Lima, her body was on North Pole time, which was just after midnight, so it was well past her internal clock's bedtime. Brittany and Santana were sure that she'd sleep through the entire night, and they were hoping that she would still be asleep when they came to get her for school the next morning, eleven hours later. If she was, that should be plenty of sleep for her to get back into her normal rhythm, or at the very least, close enough.

Just as they were walking out of the bedroom door, Noelle yawned again as she slurred, "Love you."

"Love you too, Mija." Santana said at the same time Brittany said, "Love you, honey."

They closed the door behind them and they looked at each other. They didn't need to say it to know that they both wanted to go to bed. They quickly went through their nighttime routines and then crawled into to bed together, Brittany acting as the big spoon and holding Santana from behind.

"Love you, Britt." Santana mumbled.

"Love you too." Brittany whispered.

They were asleep within minutes, their hearts overflowing from such an amazing and memorable mini-family vacation.

-()-()-()-()-

 **A/N** : And we have reached the end of another 'elf fic'! Happy (belated) New Years! I hope you all enjoyed reading it, as much as I did writing it. I was hoping to publish this on New Year's Day, but I am currently super sick with my third, and worst cold since (American) Thanksgiving, and I fell behind. Hopefully, this is the last cold I have for a while, but there has been so many things going around that I seem to catch something else as soon as I get well. Rest, liquids, and possibly a doctor's visit are in my future if this doesn't start to clear up in a day or two. Fingers crossed for me!

As always, a huge thanks goes out to my beta, **naynay1963** , for all her hard work and taking time away from her family during the holidays to get this back to me as quickly as she did. She's the best!

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own 'Glee' or any copyrighted material or products that are mentioned in this story.


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